Amazon Prime Video is trying to keep up with the latest streaming trend: big, blockbuster movies that hit home before theaters. And unlike its previous huge films, Borat 2 and Coming 2 America, its latest movie is an original property.
The online retailer's streaming arm announced it's signed up The Tomorrow War, a big-budget sci-fi film starring Chris Pratt (Star-Lord himself). The film is from Paramount Pictures, and was meant to hit theaters in late 2020, but the Covid-19 pandemic shut down theaters and pushed The Tomorrow War off to ... well, a new tomorrow.
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According to Deadline, the film sees Pratt star as Dan Forester, a "high school teacher and family man" who is recruited to help save the world. The citizens of Earth in 2021 have received a message from those in 2051, saying that the future is grim, and that humans are losing in a war against aliens.
This is why 2021's humans have to be sent to the future to join the fight. Forester works alongside his estranged father (Simmons) and "a brilliant scientist" (Yvonne Strahovski) to save us all.
The Tomorrow War was due to hit theaters on July 23, and it is being bumped up for Amazon, coming out on July 2. Amazon is spending $200 million to acquire the film, 160% as much as it spent on Coming 2 America ($125).
The movies streaming war
While Netflix's Havoc and its big list of movies coming out in 2021 show that the big red streaming machine is taking films seriously, HBO Max is currently owning its brand as the home box office.
Godzilla vs Kong, Wonder Woman 1984 and The Snyder Cut have all given folks reasons to figure out if they have HBO Max, and to sign up if they do not. And folks have plenty of reasons to stick around, with Mortal Kombat, Dune and The Suicide Squad.
As theaters are still slowly reopening around the country, studios and streaming services are rethinking their plans. Disney Plus, for example, is finally relenting and releasing Black Widow both in theaters and on Disney Plus Premier Access — which they seemingly were holding out on doing. Its overall strategy seems as focused on its original series, such as the upcoming Loki TV show.
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